A man who authorities say tried to break onto the set of ABC's Dancing With the Stars was ticketed on his way to California and let go, despite telling a police officer in Alabama that his plan to meet contestant Shawn Johnson was "a little bit crazy."

The clock has barely brushed past 8 a.m., and CBS Studios already is a hive of TV game-show insanity. In one airplane-hangar-sized space, workers prepare a studio for Drew Carey's debut as host of The Price Is Right while makeup artists swarm Jeff Foxworthy as he heads off to host Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

While a whopping 30 million viewers tune in to watch American Idol each week, only a few hundred fans get to squeeze into the CBS Studios set where the show is staged. Filmmaker Rich Martini, one of USA TODAY's four American Idol coaches, attended the live broadcast April 18, last week,(4/18) when contestants tackled standards. Here's his report.